1. Field
This disclosure relates to non-lethal directed energy weapons.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are many difficult quickly changing situations in modern urban conflicts that security personnel must deal with. In modern urban conflicts, security personnel must execute dynamically changing missions that could shift rapidly between direct action, security patrols and civil stability. Among the mix of unarmed civilians, non-lethal combatants (e.g., rock throwing) and lethal combatants, it is often not immediately clear who is an innocent bystander and who poses an immediate threat to security personnel. Options for security personnel many times progress quickly from shouting to shooting. Modern urban conflicts many times require a delicate balance between the use of non-lethal force and the use of lethal force. Non-lethal weapons, when available, are generally carried separate from lethal weapons resulting in a potentially life-threatening delay for security personnel when switching between the types of weapons. Urban riot situations, for example, can easily escalate in a moment's notice and require security personnel to switch between a non-lethal response and a lethal response.
One problem with many non-lethal weapons is that they are largely ineffective over the range that lethal weapons are effective. For example, a non-lethal kinetic weapon that sends projectiles (e.g., rubber bullets) must have a reasonable range to maintain its nonlethality, however, the weapon becomes potentially lethal at close range when powerful enough to be used for longer ranges due to the initial velocity required to project the projectile over these longer ranges.
Thus, there are general needs for a non-lethal weapon that can easily be deployed. There are also needs for a combined lethal/non-lethal weapon that has an effective non-lethal range comparable to its lethal range. There are also needs for a combined lethal/non-lethal weapon that allows security personnel to easily and quickly switch between non-lethal and lethal capabilities.